Girls beat boys in class Xth exams in Kashmir

Srinagar: Girls continue to outshine boys and dominate the merit list in the class 10 examinations in Kashmir, securing nine of the top ten positions.

The results, which were announced yesterday by the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE), recorded an overall pass percentage of 68.21 per cent.

Two girls - Iqra Bashir Makhdoomi of Model Public High School, Sopore in north Kashmir?s Baramulla district and Samma Malik of Mallinson Girls Higher Secondary School Sheikhbagh here ? topped the examination by securing 498 marks out of 500 (99.60 per cent).

The first three positions were shared by seven girls and as many as 255 students have shared the top 20 positions, out of which five are from government-run schools.
The JKBOSE officials said a total of 49,027 students - 26,697 boys and 22,330 girls - appeared in the Class 10 examination this year, out of which 15,483 failed to qualify.

Over 1370 students (612 boys and 766 girls) secured A1 grade (90 per cent or above marks), while 3727 students have secured A2 grade, securing the pass percentage of 80-89 per cent and 4834 got B1 grade securing 70-79 per cent, the officials said.
The overall pass percentage of 68.21 is better than last year`s 66.13 per cent. However, the overall pass percentage of boys this year, 71 per cent, is higher than that of girls, 64 per cent.

The result continues the recent trend of girls outperforming boys in most board and competitive examinations in Kashmir. Last year, 90 out of the 150 students figuring in the merit list were girls, with first three positions bagged by them.